What Anxiety Feels Like

I’ve noticed a pattern in my anxiety. It’s lower in the wintertime. It feels a bit like a hibernating animal.My coping skills and self-care revolve A LOT around self-soothing. Winter is the perfect time for all of that. Candles, heated blankets, weighted blankets, warmth, coziness, low-lighting, all things that make me feel safe.
And then Spring/Summer comes and I’m hit in the face with a big ball of anxiety. Every. Single. Year. Suddenly my to-do list feels looming and overwhelming. Now that the weather is warmer there’s no excuse to put things off and I am feeling it.

I am feeling it all in my body.

(*These are things I personally experience during high periods of anxiety. Please talk to your doctor though, these can also be the result of so many other things and it’s important to eliminate them before chalking them up to anxiety!)

This is what anxiety feels like:

Insomnia
Shaking
Shortness of Breath
Heart Palpitations
Stomach Aches
Sweating
Morning Adrenaline Surges
Feeling Trapped
Stress Headaches
Freeze Response
Sensory Overload
Nausea
Clenched Jaw
BFRBs
Anxious Poops

For the past two weeks, I’ve been living in a state of anxiety and I was struggling to figure out why. Mental health up-and-downs can feel pretty defeating. I can make you feel like all of the work you’ve done is unraveling. It can make you so scared that you’re sliding down a slope you won’t be able to climb up again.

But when we’re able to recognize our patterns and triggers, it can help us put things into perspective.

Now I know that this is just part of my journey. I get anxious and it’s okay! I have a long list of things I’d like to get done this year. But I have nearly the entire year to do them! Just writing that out helps just the littlest bit.

Next, I’m going to focus on my coping skills and also intentionally face those things that make me anxious. It’s a balance between taking care of myself and my needs, but also not avoiding those things that need to get done.

I’ve already crossed one thing off of my list in the last few days and I feel so much better. It’s a work in progress. I’M a work in progress. I don’t ever want it to look like I don’t have my struggles and my difficult days. While my anxiety, for the most part, is managed to the point that it doesn’t bother me or affect my daily life, it’s not completely gone.

When your anxiety is high, what does it feel like?